by Erin Trejo
“You couldn’t bring Torch out here for this shit?” Clearly the man is pissed, but I need to get his head right for him. Stepping into his space, I get right in his face.
“This shit with you and Jada is affectin’ the club. You’re off your game, and it hurts us. This shit ain’t goin’ to die down anytime soon. We need you in this shit!” Grinding out between my teeth, he steps up closer.
“You think I’m not handlin’ shit?” The rage that simmers inside of him is threatening to explode free. I can see it in his eyes. At least he’ll take it out on me, and not one of the other guys.
“No Creed. I think you’re lettin’ this shit with Jada cloud your judgement. I get it brother, I do, but we need to watch our asses here.” Creed blows out a breath before taking a step back. I know things are getting hard for him but he’s a strong person.
“I feel like I’m losin’ her Tank.” Scrubbing his hand over his face, I look at him. I get it, I’ve been there.
“Jada’s a lot of things Creed. Hard headed, strong, fierce, but the one thing she isn’t, is a quitter. She needs some space. Let her have that; let her find her way back. Life’s crazy for everyone right now.” Creed nods, but I don’t know if he’s truly listening to me.
“Let’s check this shit out, yeah?” Creed nods before he follows me toward the building. I hope shit gets worked out soon. This shit is crazy.
Chapter 31
Creed
Heading into this building, I don’t really give a shit about the Dusts’ at the moment. I’m worried about Jada, and I think Tank may be right. My head is messed up. I’m not right, and I need to figure this out.
“Looks like a fuckin’ crack house.” Stepping over litter and broken bottles, I look over at Tank as he chuckles.
“That’s what it seems like.” We keep walking but this shit is nasty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such filth in my life. Moving from room to room, it’s all the same. Litter and bottles, that’s all you see around here.
“What do you think they are usin’ this for?” Tank stops walking when I speak. His eyes are tracking something. I know how he gets when he thinks, or sees something that’s off. I don’t speak, I just follow behind him.
“Look. Right there.” Stepping up next to him, I follow his finger. I focus on the area he’s pointing at when I see it.
“Trip wires. Son of a bitch.” My heart slams in my chest while my hands clench at my sides. They are up to something, and I don’t like not knowing what it is.
“Somethins’ back there.” Looking over at Tank, I know the asshole is about to go back there and find out. Whatever I say doesn’t matter at this point.
“How are we gettin’ past those?” Pointing at the wires, he smiles. Sneaky bastard. I follow Tank as we cautiously make our way toward the back room. Standing there, I watch as my best friend follows the wire back to its origins.
“Watch that shit up top Creed.” Nodding my head, I look up to see two shotguns ready to fire as soon as those wires are tripped. Shaking my head, I wonder what the hell is back there that they have this shit set up like that. Just as Tank snips the wires, I hear someone coming in.
“Shit! Tank.” Nodding toward the entrance I twirl my finger in the air, letting him know we need to roll out, but he shakes his head.
Damn him!
Glancing around for something to hide behind, I crouch behind a table that’s been flipped over. Tank moves closer to the door before plastering himself against the wall. Shit could go a few ways here if there is more than one guy coming in here. Taking a deep breath, I wait for it. Seconds tick by like the longest minutes of my life before a man walks in carrying a food bag. I swallow hard as Tank heads toward him.
“Nice to see you.” His growl rips through the room before I stand with gun drawn. Aimed right at the door, I look at the guy. He’s actually not a guy at all. He’s a prospect, not very old either.
Tank has the kid around the neck before he drops his bag to the floor. Something flashes in his eyes, fear. He’s scared shitless. Lowering my gun, Tank looks at me confused.
“What the hell are you doin’ here kid?” Making my way closer to the two of them, I can sense the fear inside of him. It practically hits me in the face.
“I was told to watch the warehouse. I wasn’t supposed to leave. FUCK!” Tears pour from the little fuckers eyes as snot leaks over his lips. Sad to see such a young kid sucked into this shit.
“How old are you?” Looking at Tank, he loosens his grip on the kid.
“I just turned seventeen.” He stutters his way through those few words when I shake my head. Damn, he is just a kid.
“What are they usin’ a kid like you in their warehouse for?” Tank releases his arm completely before crossing his arms over his chest. Shit, if that big motherfucker doesn’t scare the shit out of him, nothing will.
“I’m dispensable.” Dropping my head, he cries harder. Kids shouldn’t be in this shit.
“Pick your bag up kid. What’s your name?” He looks around like he’s afraid to answer, but when Tank twitches the boy nearly pisses his own pants.
“Johnny.” He squeals out before he grabs his bag off the floor.
“Do you know what you’re guardin’?” Johnny looks up at Tank shaking his head.
“No. I was just told to shoot to kill.” His hands shake before I turn and head toward the back room.
Tank follows behind me with Johnny in front of him.
“Take a seat.” Once we walk into the room, Tank directs the kid to a chair against the wall where he gladly goes.
Pulling the lid off one of the many crates that are back here, I gasp. Sucking in a rough breath, this is bad.
Chapter 32
Ryker
“You bunch of pansy ass bitches!” Spitting on the ground outside the clubhouse, I look at these kids. That’s all they are. A bunch of little fucking girls disguised as men.
“Fuck off Ryker!” Torch gets pissed but he knows he can’t fight me. None of these motherfuckers have shit on me in a fist fight.
“Oh come on, Torch. I took on half your team brother. Give me somethin’ I can work with here.” Wiping the blood from my lip, I look around at the small crowd. A few of the Nomads and a few of Griff’s boys came over to hang out, and get in some hand to hand combat action.
“Let me in this shit.” Jack, one of the Nomads steps up. Now he’s a big motherfucker. He’s about 290 pounds of muscle. I don’t care though; I can take his ass.
“You big jolly green giant lookin’ asshole. You think you can take me?” Now, I know I’m not as big as the other guys, but my fighting skills are superior to theirs.
Rob stands in the middle as acting referee while I bounce around getting ready.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Jersey’s voice booms behind me before we all turn to look at her. Standing there looking sexy as fuck isn’t going to help my strategy here.
“Workin’ out darlin’.” Jersey shakes her head before taking a few steps closer, her eyes never leaving mine. That sexy as fuck grin across her lips does little to help either.
“I can work you out better than he can.” Nodding toward Jack, I laugh. She has a good point there. Bella walks out of the door behind her with wide eyes.
“Oh shit! Are you guys fighting? I’m in. $50 on Ryker.” Bella drags money out of her pocket before tossing it onto the table.
“I got you on that one. Mine’s on Jack.” Jack’s old lady throws her cash down as I rub my hands together.
“Now we got a fight goin’ on.” Turning my attention back to Jack, he looks a little nervous. Yeah, I would be too, if I was about to get my ass beat in front of my girl.
“Don’t take it so hard Black Jack. I’ll go easy on you.” The sinister laugh that escapes my throat should scare the hell out of him. Hell, it would me.
“Easy my ass. I got you motherfucker.” Pointing at me, I smile. Yeah, we’ll see about that.
I turn into a devil when I fight. I bre
ak bones, I give no mercy. Blood is all I want. I want to see the motherfucker bleed at my hands. Call it demonic, or crazy. That’s all me. When I was younger I’d be pushed to my limits. I wanted to die, but once I learned how to fight, I became what people feared. I was the devil himself and I own that shit.
“Let’s do it.” Clapping my hands together, we get into position. My hands are clenched into fists as I ready myself for the monster that comes at me. Fists are flying, blood is shed. Bones crack and lips get split. I’m running on pure adrenaline here. It courses through me like the blood in my veins. I can feel it rising to the surface.
“Jesus, Ryker!” I can hear Jersey’s voice off to the side yelling at me. A slight grin tugs at my lips before I move in on Jack. He doesn’t know what’s about to come down on him. My right fist connects with his eye before the crack can be heard. Jack falls to the ground with his hands over his face. Rob calls our little fight just as I see Tank and Creed pulling up. They kill their bikes before walking toward us. Their faces are haunted, and I know this is going to be bad news.
“Havin’ fun?” Tank nods at Jack as he pulls himself up off the ground.
“I was. What’s wrong?” Looking between the two of them, I shake my head.
“Church in twenty. Get cleaned up.” Without another word, I nod before heading over to Jersey.
“You won that bet, yeah?” Grabbing the towel and wiping my face, she smiles.
“I did. I knew my man was a winner.” Kissing her quickly, I dry my chest.
“Got church. After that I’m fuckin’ you all crazy.”
Without another word, I head inside to clean up.
Chapter 33
Tank
“So, shit at the old warehouse wasn’t what we expected. There’s enough C4 in that motherfucker to blow half the city.” Creed looks around at all of us. My gaze tends to stay on Ryker though. I know that out of all of us here, that motherfucker is the most ruthless one of all.
“We blow it or score it?” Speak of the fucking devil and he answers. Creed’s eyes move to Ryker’s before he speaks again.
“Well, that’s what we don’t know. If we blow it, that brings a shit storm on this city. One that we might not be ready to handle. Feds, local police.” Creed shakes his head before I look back over at him.
“But if we go back in for it, they won’t know which club has it. We can’t go flashin’ that shit around or lettin’ it be known that it’s here.” Creed nods his agreeance before Ryker stands. Damn, why does he have to be so goddamn evil?
“Fuck that shit. We use that shit to blow them the fuck up! We kill those motherfuckers with their own shit.” Half the room chuckles along, but not the other half. They know just how crazy Ryker really is.
“Thought about that, too. Heard they were settin’ up a new clubhouse down off Shady. I thought we could let them get all nice and settled before we play light the night. I want to watch when they go in, meetins’, parties; I want to know it all.” Ryker drops back into his chair with a huge ass grin on his face. Yeah, he likes that idea.
“We vote on the kid.” Blowing out a breath, I didn’t want to do this.
“What’s that mean? What kid?” Piper looks over at me before I speak.
“When we were in there, a kid came in. Seventeen. He was told to watch the shit and shoot on sight. Clearly he didn’t do that. Now, we know he’s only a prospect, but we still need to vote on what we do with him.” Ryker grins and I already know his answer.
“Vote to let him slide, say no. Take him out, I.” Creed starts around the table with me first. I’m not into killing kids.
“No.” I can’t kill a kid for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What kind of father does that make me?
The votes go by but I don’t have the heart to listen to the votes. I heard more I’s than anything and that doesn’t sit right with me.
“I it is. We take him out.” Creed slams the gavel down before the guys all stand to leave. Glancing over I see the look on Ryker’s face. He isn’t sure about this shit either.
“I’ll do what I need to, but this shit doesn’t feel right.” My heart damn near stops in my chest when Ryker speaks. I never thought I’d see the day that he didn’t want to kill someone.
“I feel you on this one. The kid’s not a threat.” Ryker turns to look at me with question in his eyes.
“You know that? For a fact?” Ryker asks me before I nod.
“Fuckin’ damn near pissed himself when he saw us. There’s no way in fuck he would turn down a couple thousand to get the hell out of town. He was scared Ryker, a real fear.” Ryker nods his head. The look on his face, void. He’s lost in himself. An internal debate that he and only he has to come to terms with. Ryker doesn’t say anything else before he walks toward the bar. He grabs a beer and heads toward the back. No other words are needed. If he’s going to take out that kid, he needs to make it right in his head.
“You think this shit’s goin’ to play out brother?” Torch slaps a hand on my shoulder before Piper comes to stand in front of us.
“No way to tell. That place was wired up. One false move and that shit would blow a fuckin’ hole in the universe.” Piper nods before he asks the same question we already discussed.
“The kid? You think he’ll flip and give out info that you were there?” Shaking my head, I don’t think he will. I saw him, felt him. The fear that shook that kid from the inside out was nothing I’ve witnessed before.
“He ain’t sayin’ shit.” Walking away from the two of them, I need a break. I need a drink, and I need to make this right in my head. I’m not the one pulling the fucking trigger, but it still needs to make sense.
Chapter 34
Creed
Is this wrong? This whole fucking thing? There’s no way in hell that Rit would leave some kid in charge of that much C4. It just doesn’t sit right with me. Cher walks into the club with Heather in her arms. My heart leaps as I fly off the stool and straight toward her.
“How’s my baby girl?” Taking her from Cher, I kiss her head, smiling down at her. Damn, that is one beautiful little girl.
“Thanks Cher.” She smiles and nods before passing me the diaper bag.
“Jada will be here in a while. I told her to take her time and get a shower. Pull herself together. I’ll keep Heather tonight so you guys can talk.” Shaking my head, I don’t know how she did it. I don’t know how she got her to come back, but I can’t thank her enough.
“Thank you. I know shit’s hard around here, and I hate that you and Jada are in this. You two were never the type.” Cher throws her hand up before she speaks.
“It’s hard Creed. You guys don’t get it. We never know if you guys are going to come back in one piece. Look at Dougie. We worry, we get scared. You have to understand that there’s a fear that sits in the back of our minds, even when you just go to the store for cigarettes. It doesn’t leave.” I never thought this through. I know she worries but even over the little things, I didn’t realize that.
“I get it, but how do I make her feel more comfortable? I don’t know what the fuck to do here, Cher.” Cher wraps her arm around my waist before she looks up at me.
“There’s nothing you can do, Creed. You can reassure her that you’ll come back, but this is something she has to work out in her own head.” I never heard Cher talk like this. This was never a role she would have taken.
“You have that shit worked out in your head? With Tank?” Cher smiles and nods before she steps away from me.
“I do. He has my heart Creed, and I have his. His time isn’t going to end before it’s supposed to. Plus, I have all of you now.” With a wink, I watch her walk away as calm as can be. I don’t understand that woman at all.
Looking down at my daughter, I think to myself. This is the reason I want us in more legitimate situations. I don’t want that fear to be there forever. I want reassurance that one day we can go out and have no worries about a rival trying to take us out. That’s the
plan anyway.
“Is that my baby?” Bella squeals before I look up and see her running straight toward me. Snatching Heather out of my arms, I smile.
“You’re goin’ to be a good mother one day, Bella.” Her eyes are bright, but there is a sadness that I can’t place in there too.
“I don’t know about that. I love these babies though!” Kissing Heather’s head a million times, my heart settles in my chest.
“They are a good group of kids. That includes you. I don’t think we give you enough credit around here. You’re always there when we need you darlin’, and that means the world to us. To me.” Bella’s eyes come to rest on mine. She looks like she wants to say more, but she doesn’t.
“That means a lot to me Creed. You’re the best uncle I could ask for. This club, you guys. It all means so much to me. It’s my first home. It’s the first time I felt like I belonged somewhere.” I lean in and kiss her cheek before I see movement out of the corner of my eye.
Pulling back, I see her.
“Jada.” Her name slides from my lips like silk.
Chapter 35
Ryker
“Are you ok? You look off.” Jersey watches me carefully as I do my push-ups. Lately, this is my go to when I need to work out some pent up stress.
“Yep. Don’t I look sexy?” Locking my arms at the elbow, I turn to glance at her with a shit eating grin on my face.
“You know damn good and well that you are the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” I watch her lick her lips before going back to my work out. Sweat drips from my forehead, puddling on the floor beneath me. Thoughts swarm my head. It’s a kid that isn’t a threat, but I need to take him out. I don’t know why all of the sudden something like that bothers me, until I hear that little angel of mine cry. Jersey moves to pick up Ansley, then it all makes sense. That’s someone’s kid. That’s someone’s brother. He’s innocent in all this shit.